Bet he wished he had a Bug Out Bag, lol.
Chesterton man survives ordeal in Colorado forest
Wants to use his experience to improve navigational technology
Jason Pede said he always tells his children not to leave stuff in his car, especially cans and bottles of liquid that could freeze and explode.
But the 31-year-old Chesteron man is grateful his kids didn't listen this time.
They left a bottle of water under the arm rest of his Lincoln Navigator before he embarked on a trip across country last week. That bottle of water and a couple cans of Mountain Dew helped him survive after he was trapped in the vehicle for three days and two nights in the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado.
Until about a year ago, Pede worked escorting oversized loads across country -- driving the car with blinking lights ahead or behind an oversized load on a semitrailer. When the economy went south, so did that job.
So Pede went to work making deliveries. On his latest trip, he was carrying some chairs from California to Kansas and a rescued Australian shepherd to Aspen, Colo.
On the trip to Aspen, Pede said his GPS gave one set of directions and his laptop gave him another set that would have saved him 100 miles on the trip. He stopped and talked to a local resident about the directions and the person confirmed the roads were good to take the short cut.
Still a little hesitant because the same technology had sent him on wild goose chases at least five times before, Pede ventured out. As he drove through the Rio Grande National Forest, the paved road turned into dirt. The snow became deep. He tried to turn around, but the Navigator ended up off the road stranding him and the dog.
Pede drew on what he knew from watching survival shows on The Discovery Channel and those two Mountain Dews and bottle of water.
He stayed with the vehicle, burning the chairs that had been destined for Kansas, to help keep him warm. He turned on the SUV only during intervals at night to keep warm. He listened to the radio during those intervals to keep track of the days. The temperature dropped to 6 degrees at night.
When he used all the gasoline, Pede -- after putting on every item of clothing that would fit -- decided to set out the seven miles to find help. He left his family a goodbye note in the SUV in case he didn't make it. He walked for two hours in snow that was sometimes calf deep until he found help. Then he collapsed after getting assurance from officials they would go out and rescue the dog from the SUV.
"I drive 140,000 miles a year, so there's not much that scares me. I had some points where I freaked out and started crying. The dog freaked out. He's less than a year old and has been rescued twice," Pede said Tuesday talking from Colorado Springs, where he was reunited with his family Monday night and is getting some rest before driving back to Northwest Indiana.
Pede said one reason he didn't walk for help sooner was that he hoped someone would find him. He also was concerned about the animals that might be in the vicinity.
"They have animals out here we never thought of," he said, adding he asked someone after his rescue about the paw prints he saw on his vehicle. They were, he was told, mountain lion prints.
The days since returning to civilization Sunday have been a whirlwind. Local Colorado media jumped at the story, and he was featured in several television and newspaper reports. CBS flew his family -- wife Amanda and three children -- to meet him in Colorado Springs. After three hours of sleep Monday night, Pede gained national attention on "The Early Show." Calls from other media were still coming in Tuesday afternoon.
The attention, he said is perplexing.
"It's interesting, and I love how everyone is interested in it. But I don't understand it," he said. "I don't look at it as if it was such a bad deal."
Pede said he would like to turn his experience into something positive, possibly lobby technology companies to improve their navigational services to prevent people from getting wrong directions and caught like he did.
"People depend on this technology," he said.
And the other lesson he learned: "I'm going to keep myself on asphalt. If I hit dirt, I'm turning around."